#we cannot give up we cannot be complacent we cannot assume

[short-wooloo]

I cannot overstate this enough, but with the threat of trump and project 2025, there is GENUINELY a chance that this year's pride month could be the last...

I want y'all to really think about that, think about it when you hear or think "I'm not voting" or "both sides are the same

[genderqueerdykes]

i just wanted to take some time to let americans know that while it's okay to be bummed about the results of the presidential election, the entire reason elections are so publicized and televised like this is to try to keep you wrapped up in this bullshit so you will ignore and forget about reality. yes trump being elected sucks but the entire point of this is to keep your attention off of real issues that are happening in the real world

they WANT you to get sad and defeated whenever a bad candidate wins so that you become complacent. they want you to lose hope and give up and accept what is happening. they want you to get wrapped up in debates and other he-said-she-said nonsense that's all conjecture and spitballing so you'll ignore what's actually happening in the real world. trump can say he wants to do this, and say he wants to do that, but the real world is way more complicated than that. our government sucks but he's going to have to fight with the senate and house just like he did the last time he was elected. he's going to have to fight tooth and nail to try to get his unrealistic plans set into action, and it's not going to be any easier for him this time around than it was last time.

we don't know what will happen until we get there. the best we can do is continue to survive, and thrive, until we see change. all we can do is continue to care for and love each other until we see things in our environment genuinely changing. don't listen to what this man says he wants to do. he wants to scare you and make you think that he's almighty and unstoppable, but he's not. he's a human who is subject to the rules of the government machine he willingly walked into. you can't give up hope right now and abandon your friends and family and assume you should move or die to escape it.

most people's first reaction is to move when the candidate they don't like wins. which is fair, but it's also really important to stick with your friends and family. abandoning the people you love during a hard time will not make it any easier for you or them. sticking together during adversity is what makes it easier to overcome. and if and when it comes down to a revolution, we need your help to set that in motion. we can't start a revolution to make a change if there's no one left to try. we have to stay in order to be the change we want to see. stick by your friends and family. stick together. don't abandon each other- now more than ever we need to stick together.

this wasn't the "most important election of our lifetime." all of the ones before that were framed exactly that way, too. what this IS is the most important time to stick together and stand up for one another. there will never be a more important time like the present to stand together, stick up for each other, defend each other, and to be there for one another. marginalized groups will only get weaker if we abandon each other. we have to stick together to fight like hell for each other.

it's not all doom and gloom. nothing is over. we survived a prior 4 years under this man's presidency and we will survive another 4. it sucked before, and it'll suck again, but we will persist through this. the world will keep turning. the sun will keep rising. please remember that we are stronger together, and that a revolution cannot happen unless there are people to partake in it. if we want to make change, we can't run- we have to stand and face the adversity we wish to overcome.

[scooby-review]

Scooby and Scrappy Doo Season One Episode 5-6

5. Shiver and Shake, That Demon’s a Snake

(Apologies in advance for how bad the images will look throughout the season, and likely seasons to come, the episodes are simply this quality and no higher resolution versions of the episodes exist).

We follow the gang on a holiday to the Florida Keys, where they encounter a Snake Demon. 

For me, this next batch of episodes consolidate the tone and quality of this series, which is good, but not great. Every stride forwards is met with a new hurdle, and the quality never feels like it can reach that of the first episode The Scarab Lives!

Different writers appear to place their own takes on Scrappy as a character, unlike the rest of the gang, he hasn’t had time to stew yet. Case in point, this episode has the character constantly messing up, instantly following this up by stating that the gang can’t possibly be upset, because he’s just a puppy. It’s most prominent here, and I do understand in moments like this why people dislike the character, it works against the foundations set in the pilot and the subsequent episodes, he’s not brave and overzealous here, rather clumsy, careless and thoughtless. It goes against his characterisation - referring back to the original complaints the studio had for Scrappy, (in which they feared he was “too independent”) here the character grows complacent, he creates problems, and refuses to atone for them. 

Such characterisation is only seen in this episode of the four I watched this week, and so I assume this comes from a large array of writers being handed this new character, and by this point in the series run, they would have had little to refer back to as to how he could be written, and therefore, there are a handful of different takes. I adore Scrappy, and the episodes the follow will allow me to highlight why, but this episode I did find him frustrating. 

With that in mind, I do enjoy when Scrappy gets a midnight snack and carves himself out of wood. Redeemed. 

Having Daphne feeling like she has to purchase a souvenir, only to have it be an idol of the demon snake is a great way to introduce the MacGuffin, it’s perfectly in character for her, and gives a greater impression that the characters are on holiday, something missed in other episodes where the characters visit new locations, where it loses any meaning after a while. 

Although competently structured, the episode ultimately lacks much that makes it memorable - I watched it last night and without a guide, I’d struggle to explain what happened. Maybe this comes down to the episode being fairly simple, it’s stripped down completely, it’s a very simple story of the gang on holiday, until they get wrapped up in a mystery, but motifs of their holiday linger throughout the mystery. 

As for the monster himself, I think the Snake Demon is a fun enough villain, he’s fairly barebones, void of much personality, he’s simply an anthropomorphised snake in design, with a murky palette of greens evoking a fairly common colour scheme for snakes. Simplicity works in the designs favour here, and very conceptually, he’s raised by the imagery of the idol, which gives him something extra to his character. Although snakes are intertwined with themes of evil, and by extension, demons (look no further than the Garden of Eden), I don’t think this design seeks to channel any real deities, rather, the demon in the characters title is simply a way for the writers to denote him as a monster, similarly to how most Scooby villains we’ve seen before have “phantom” or “ghost” thrown in their name. 

7. The Scary Sky Skeleton

I didn’t mention it before, but wow do these episodes look bad. Far worse than even Where are You, which at least has a charm to its style, but here the animation is clearly being stretched thin; I cannot imagine how tiny the budget for these episodes must have been, and how awful the constraints for the animators were. 

In this episode, the gang visit Daphne’s friend Wendy, who’s a stunt pilot, however upon arrival, they learn of a skeletal pilot. 

Something that struck me quickly about this episode is just how involved Fred, Daphne and Velma were in the action - the majority of the season has seen them away from any harm, seldom do they meet the villain face to face, but rather, they pick up the scraps of Shaggy and the dogs hijinx. However this episode allows them to actively run into the mystery itself. 

This season highlights a large issue with expanding the gang to six members: there’s an even split. Every episode will now divide into Shaggy and the dogs, and Fred, Daphne and Velma, whereas before, you would be able to see Velma with Shaggy and Scooby, or gendered splits if sleeping was involved. Without this, it truly highlights the limitations of the main characters - Shaggy and Scooby cannot solve the mysteries, it's not in their nature, they would run from anything scary. Pairing them with Velma or Fred therefore forces them to fixate on the mysteries, or it gives their third member a chance to be involved in the wacky misadventures. But with this even split, there’s little motivation for Fred, Daphne or Velma to come face to face with danger, because doing so then gives them more screen time than the dogs and Shaggy, who are the drive of the series' marketability. 

Therefore, seeing them chasing down the plane is great, it feels like they get an even amount of time here as their counterparts, and I will enjoy the episode for this alone. 

Daphne’s friend here doesn’t get much to do, but Wendy’s voice actor Pat Stevens, takes over as Velma later this season! However as a friend character, she’s very bland, one of the weakest friends and family of the gang we’ve seen so far. 

Interestingly, we have another skeletal villain in this episode, although episode four's neon phantom wasn’t a typical skeleton exactly. When not in the plane, the Sky Skeleton is just a skeleton, he’s perfect at doing this, but there’s nothing more to really add about his design beyond this. However his aviator clothes, skeleton themed biplane, and personality are what allow him to shine. I adore how silly his plane is, painted crimson, the sides are decorated with an exact replica of the Sky Skeletons design, but the contrasting chalky white with the reds works perfectly. Alongside this, I love how much malice the Sky Skeleton holds, he wants these teenagers dead. 

Speaking of wanting people dead, Scrappy nearly kills him. During a sequence where Shaggy and the dogs are inside the plane, Scrappy pushes the Sky Skeleton off of the moving plane, and if he hadn't been caught by a nearby windmill, Scrappy would have been going down for life. 

This episode is undoubtedly elevated by funny moments like this, and the diversity of screen time. 

7. The Demon of the Dugout

This episode is falling apart at the seams, it looks rough, the storyline is a mess, the editing is choppy, the dialogue too can be incredibly bland, the sound mixing is awful, and all this adds into an enjoyable time. 

The gang head to a baseball game, only to learn a demon dragon appeared midway through the game, causing panic throughout the teams. 

Like many Scooby Doo episodes that don’t take place in America, there are some awful depictions of people of different cultures and ethnicities. Every Japanese character here is voiced awfully by white guys, the series seemingly just has the same roster of voice actors that they use for every character, it’s frustrating and worth pointing out because situations like this continue to happen, albeit, less commonly. 

Before diving into how rough this episode is, I want to mention the monster, the Dragon Beast. Dressed in a kimono and resembling an Oni, the dragon is anthropomorphised, with his long flowing blond hair and weirdly shaped head crafting a confusing design that I love. Glancing at it, I couldn’t tell you what this creature was intended to be, but the neon shade of green, the inky black stripes and powerful stance all aid in crafting a monster I enjoy. 

As for the great aspects of the episode: Scrappy falls out of a hat box which is cute, there are some new pyjamas shown, there’s a funny gag about Scrappy confusing fireworks for candles, and at one point Scrappy shouts “Weee”. 

Unfortunately, there’s no fun analysis to be had in regards to the new pyjamas - just looking at them will explain why. They’re fine, I liked seeing them, but any prior pyjama design is more thoughtful and interesting. 

I want to break down a scene here to explain just how disjointed this episode is. Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy are wandering in a dark basement, therefore, Scrappy finds a box of “Roman Candles” which he lights for the trio as they wander through the halls. Then, the monster appears, and so, they pass the fireworks to him as a distraction, bearing in mind they still believe these are candles. So where does this go? Shot of the dragon disposing of the fireworks, smash cut to the gang back together again, noting the dragon disappeared. Not only is there no pay off to the fireworks joke, there’s no consequence to anything here, no chase sequence, no purpose to the characters entering this new location… Afterwards, characters lines are almost overlapping with one another, it’s awful! Which means the episode is a lot of fun to watch, and I would much rather a bad episode that’s therefore funny, than a bland episode that’s therefore boring. 

8. The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear

Case in point, this episode has some moments that are infinitely better written than the previous episode, and it is one of the most boring episodes I’ve watched in a while. 

There are two major ideas at play in this episode: the monster is a bear, and the episode takes place in the Grand Canyon. Insert some awful depictions of Native Americans, and that’s pretty much the wheelhouse of this episode, just cycling through these three aspects. 

Don’t get me wrong, both the bear and Grand Canyon are fun, but these are just ideas! They go nowhere. As far as his design is concerned, the bear is a brown bear, his eyes pupiless and posing pushed to connote to violence and completely drain him of any humanity, although he’s animated in a way that doesn’t lean into this in too compelling of a manner. 

But, to point out a great moment, there are two glowing moments within this episode. The first is a gag that sees Scooby and Shaggy making a sandwich, they go to halve it, but Scooby pulls the sandwich from between the string, but rather than the usual outcome of Scooby then eating it, the sandwich slips from the table, and into Scrappy’s lap. It’s perfect in exploring their dynamic and what Scrappy brings to it; he’s grateful to his uncle for making him food, he only sees the best in Scooby, and as such, Scooby wants to impress his nephew. 

The second aspect is that Scrappy goes fishing and I like his little hat. 

Worst episode so far, but the rest of the season reigns at a fairly neutral level of being good, never quite rising above that (with the exception of the first episode). 

Thank you for reading this weeks review! I was away for most of the week so I worked through this one across the weekend. I hope everyone has a great week :)

Socials - My debut novel is now available! Any support is hugely appreciated :)

Next Review: Scooby and Scrappy Doo Season 1 Episodes 9-12 (Coming Soon!)

Previous Review: Scooby and Scrappy Doo Season 1 Episodes 1-4

[horizonsstandstill]

We will have to do this the old way. The reliable method. Think practical. If all the biggest consumers and polluters are gone, we will prevent ten times more damage than roundabout ways of science we haven't invented yet (for things like autoimmune disorders caused by herbicide/pesticide/insecticide use, reversion of the damage done to ocean floor that's causing an increase in the magnitude and count of earthquakes, reversion of some types of habitat losses, reversion of ocean heat, reversion of lost species so on).

All the imperialism relies on polluting and destroying the environment through the wars that also ruin the environment for the resources that will also cause perils to environment while they are being used. Getting rid of the problem that's causing all the problems is the most logical thing.

The thing about science is that, governments use it to buy themselves time for giving us baseless hopes because they will never be funding those projects instead of things like spending on military budget or subsidising oil. It's just a greenwashing ad campaign that is meant to lull people into complacency until it's too late to do anything about the catastrophic events happening.

All the capitalist growth models are based on future discounts where people value present over future. Which is realistic, and it pushes us into a corner where sustainability cannot be managed without the destruction of the biggest enemies of the environment. When we replace their poorly assumed stochastic environmental risks as inevitable doom caused by actions of the present, we get degrowth as the most rational policy decision.

Show me one government or a large corporation that will accept that. They want us to suffer all externalities of their capitalist race to the bottom. The dick measuring contests between them is spending more resources than the revitalisation of poor and the oppressed people they have. Anyone who preaches that's normal or that's how things should be or we have no better alternatives are our enemies that everyone is better off if they were made shut up permanently.

Start with the economists(!) that preach that's better for the whole world. Or that's the best system amongst the ones we have. The recognition of capitalist economic ideology as a science has contributed to more evils than the good things science contributed to our societies. Science is itself ideological and most of the scientists whether aware or unaware, are serving the interests of oppressive governments and evil capitalists. Anything that doesn't serve that, you will have a hard time getting published. Gatekeeping and the other means of preventing the distribution of relevant information is an innate part of state propaganda.

ALT

[vinceleemiller]

The Enemy Is Plotting Behind Enemy Lines | 1 Samuel 29:1-2

Are you preparing for a battle, or have you let your guard down?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

In this chapter, we are going to see the stage for the battle that will end King Saul's life. It is going to give us a look behind enemy lines. Let's begin with 1 Samuel 29:1-2:

Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish. — 1 Samuel 29:1-2

Aphek was the staging area of a battle described in 1 Samuel 4. The Philistines gathered here right before the Ark of the Lord was taken.

But this time, we notice "all" the Philistines gathered. This would have included all five Lords, of which Achish was one.

The Philistines were organizing, preparing, and plotting their next move. Their forces were united. Their strategy was clear. But here's the detail we can't miss: David and his men, though aligned with Achish for the moment, were strategically stationed in the rear—a precarious position for the Philistines but strategic for David.

This scene reminds us of an essential spiritual truth: the enemy is always preparing for the next battle, often behind enemy lines. Just as the Philistines gathered their forces, our spiritual enemy is always on the move, scheming and searching for vulnerabilities. This is why we cannot afford to let our guard down.

In Ephesians 6:11, Paul reminds us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." The battle we face is not one of flesh and blood but a spiritual one, and spiritual preparation is key. If we become complacent, we risk being caught off guard, just like Saul in this moment.

Are you preparing for the spiritual battle out there today, or have you let your guard down? Are you starting your day steadfast in prayer, rooted in the truth, and keenly aware? Or have you settled into a false sense of security, assuming the enemy has retreated when actually he is organizing, preparing, and plotting the next move?

David was fully prepared for this moment, which is why he was strategically at the rear. Even so, David was about to learn that God had his own plan, but this did not mean David's plans were a waste of time. So again, are you ready for the battle today or at least to see the revelation of God's battle plan? I know this: the enemy is plotting to go to war with you behind enemy lines.

#SpiritualBattle, #StayAlert, #ArmorOfGod

Ask This:

Are you actively preparing for spiritual battles through prayer and Scripture, or have you grown complacent in your daily walk?

How can you stay vigilant against the enemy’s schemes while trusting in God’s battle plan for your life?

Do This:

Armor up!

Pray This:

Father, help me to stay alert and prepared for the battles I cannot see. Strengthen me with Your truth and guide me by Your plan. Amen.

Play This:

Bulletproof.

Check out this episode!

[yourreddancer]

Edward Lucas

Monday November 04 2024, 12.01am GMT, The Times

Whether tomorrow’s election sends a transactional Donald Trump to the White House in January or the inexperienced Kamala Harris, our security is the loser. Years of dithering and timidity in Washington and of stinginess and complacency elsewhere have eroded, probably fatally, the network of alliances that underpinned global security for the past seven decades.

The decline is clearest here in Europe. In recent weeks I have been in Prague, Riga and Warsaw. The mood in these frontline states is bleak. War is likely, and sooner than we think. Assuming Russia beats Ukraine to a standstill, President Putin’s forces could be ready for more in two years, or less. Everyone still hopes that Nato will work and that the United States will come to help. Few believe it.

We are scandalously ill-prepared for this. Our armed forces lack the muscle, supplies or logistics to fight a real war. As a scathing report this year by Sweden’s FOI defence think tank pointed out, Britain could at best provide a “limited expeditionary force” that would have “serious issues with sustainability”.

Putin knows that. So do our friends, exasperated with our habit of over-promising and under-delivering. The Nordic and Baltic members in the ten-country Joint Expeditionary Force, supposedly UK-led, will give Keir Starmer an earful over this at a summit in Tallinn in December. These vital allies may start looking elsewhere for leadership.

Starmer should be even more worried that we cannot defend ourselves. This country largely lacks air defences to protect us against the missiles that rain down daily on Ukraine’s cities and infrastructure. On a good day, assuming (fingers crossed) one of our Type 45 destroyers is seaworthy and moored in the Thames estuary, it could protect London. But only for a few hours. Once that warship has fired its 48 Aster air-defence missiles it must reload from our skimpy stockpile. That would take most of a day, assuming (also) that we still have a functioning naval base.

We assume (again) that allies will protect us. But in the event of war, other European countries’ air defences will also be fully stretched. A minimum protective shield for southeastern England alone would cost £16 billion. What chance of that? The politics of taxing the rest of the country to defend one bit of it are tricky. But a shield for the whole of the UK will be prohibitively costly.

Self-deceit is our biggest weakness. We hollowed out our armed forces, disguising the damage with secrecy and boosterism. We fired Russia-watchers who told inconvenient truths to those in power. They include Keir Giles, whose defence analysis outfit was abolished in 2010. His new book Who Will Defend Europe? is a blistering account of our defence shortcomings. He tells me that he sees “no sign” the new government has recognised the urgency of the challenge.

Russia is attacking us right now, with sabotage and other mischief. A man from Leicestershire last month pleaded guilty to aggravated arson, carried out on behalf of the Russian mercenary Wagner group. Counterterrorism police are investigating a parcel bomb in Birmingham; similar incidents in Poland and Germany could have brought down planes carrying air freight. Mysterious blazes abound: at a Monmouthshire ammunition plant in April and this week at our nuclear submarine shipyard in Barrow.

“There have been other unexplained fires and incidents at other UK defence companies,” says Francis Tusa, the editor of Defence Analysis and one of this country’s leading military pundits. Officials and the companies concerned “clam up” on these topics, he says. But hushing up Russia’s mischief invites yet more mayhem.

Our clapped-out nuclear submarines, and eventually their delayed, wildly over-budget replacements, offer tenuous reassurance against the doomsday scenario of a full-blown nuclear attack. But they evidently do not stop the aggression we face now. We urgently need to boost our resilience to these “sub-threshold” attacks with better defences of our infrastructure, industry and institutions, public and private. We need a new arsenal of crafty, painful countermeasures too.

Some countries are prepared: Finland has six-month stockpiles of food, fuel and medicine, and spaces in bomb shelters for every resident. It responds with firmness to Russian mischief. A Finnish court is the first to enforce an international judgment on confiscating Russian property to compensate Ukraine. Estonia is spending a quarter of its defence budget on ammunition alone. Poland has the biggest and most effective conventional forces in Europe. These countries see an existential threat from Russia and will fight alone if necessary. They may have to.

Ukrainians are paying for our failures. They cannot defend their crumbling front line and battered cities against Russia’s onslaught because American aid comes too little, too late, and festooned with restrictions, preventing them striking at the invaders’ airbases and troop concentrations. But we will pay later.

We had the chance to counter Kremlin imperialism alongside a big, strong, united country. Scared of the risks and costs of providing real military support, we did not take it. Ukraine bought us time to build up our own defences. We wasted that too. Disappointment there is turning to despair — and fury. A defeated, hopeless, traumatised Ukraine will be a gigantic problem for all of Europe. Meanwhile, our safety and freedom rest on a fragile assumption: that the next US administration will care more about our security than we do.

[vampireminuet]

Open letter to the youngest of Gen Z; and Gen Alpha teens,

You're smarter than this. Disengage from your algorithm. Seek out new things, new perspectives. Stop scrolling. If your feed is getting too similar or doubling down on a topic, particularly political, proceed with caution. They knew they were losing young people, they've been worrying about it for years - maybe even since before some of you were born. They were watching as you became more progressive and knew their days were numbered. So they pushed hard to infect your algorithms and drip-feed you, to shape your narrative during your formative teenage years when many of you are eager to grow up and be independent and break from the norms and make change, but are also still very impressionable. These algorithms are only getting better, and they have it down to a science to keep you engaged as long as possible. You should be angry about this and distrustful - you cannot assume they will keep your best interests at heart.

Don't bank on AI in school to do your assignments. Don't bank on "auto AI answers." Ignore the top results on Google. I know it seems like the easy, low effort option. I know you're burned out. I know school can be hard. But learning to think for yourself and sift through the madness and noise right now is the most important skill you can learn in this evolving world. Those that have the most vested interest in AI stand to gain a lot from making you trust it and rely on it. Once you trust it, think how easy would it be for them to change the game and make it parrot back propaganda several years from now. Never stop questioning it. Verify sources. Never let yourself become complacent and easy to manipulate. Although AI is here to stay and we need to learn to coexist with it now, always keep it at arms' length. It has its uses and when used as a tool could significantly advance humanity in the right contexts.

And most importantly.... never lose your empathy. We all only have one life. Kindness still matters. Things feel very hopeless today for many of us. But they're hoping we'll give up and accept that it will be this way forever now. If they can't win you over, they want to keep you feeling helpless and apathetic. Do not give up.

[diaryofanangrybitch]

Anger / Apathy

September 2024

I’m a crier. I cry all the time, about everything. I cry when I’m happy, I cry when I’m sad, and I cry when I’m angry.

Angry is something I’ve been a lot lately. Not frustration and annoyance, but red, hot steaming fury. Rage sits beneath my skin and festers there for days on end, begging to be released. I am a kettle on the verge of boiling over, and when the kettle boils over, my tears spill out, too.

Shame comes along with it. Anger has negative connotations, and so do tears. People view anger as something they need to expel — as something to hide or dismiss. It’s something they don’t want others to see. I’ve felt that, too, recently.

Voicing anger is hard. It’s an art form. There are strict social guides around it, and to an extend, these are reasonable. When you’re angry towards a loved one, you must remain contained, avoiding yelling or other aggressions. When you’re angry towards political situations, you must be loud and demanding, but not too much, or you’ll be viewed as violent.

In my case, when I’m angry, I assume people view me as unstable. Why? Because I cannot feel any strong emotion without shedding tears over it. I cannot articulate myself properly. I become one giant human sack of feelings.

That being said, there are only a handful of things that truly make me reach that point — where the feelings are too large for me to hold.

One of those things is injustice. And there seems to be a lot of that at the moment. I’ve always been used to exposure to some level of injustice. I work in violence against women, for Christ's sake. I see it everyday. But right now… the world seems to be in a place darker than its been in years. There is conflict everywhere. From Palestinians being massacred, to children shot dead at school, and from mass rapes to police violence. We cannot get away from it, no matter how hard we try.

The world is a really fucking awful place, and yet somehow, most of us seem to be able to function within it.

It has always baffled me how people can carry on with their lives, making small talk and talking shit, when people (and let’s be honest, mostly men) are out here harming innocent people with no concern. How can people spend time at parties when children are having their limbs blown off? How can they stay silent when police abuse their powers to oppress us?

For me, when I see these things on the news, I can’t leave them alone. I can’t put blinders up and carry on with my day. My whole mood has shifted.

I see these things on the news and feel deflated. That’s the thing with anger, it’s never just anger. It’s hurt. It’s betrayal. It’s disappointment. It’s pure heartbreak. It’s devastation.

People will say that this doesn’t directly effect me, so why does it bother me so much but how could it not? They want us to be silent — to sit still and let it it happen. They don’t want to see our tears or our cries. Our silence gives them what they want — complicity.

Complicity is easier than deviating from the norm, to any extent. If you’re not complicit, you risk your reputation and your own comfort. It’s not easy feeling frustration and hurt and hopelessness. Ignorance truly is bliss. But I don’t want bliss if it means complacency to the abuse of millions of people — if it means allowing injustice and abuses of power to continue to occur.

You’re wrong if you think these don’t effect you. These injustices are so deeply ingrained in our systems that you don’t notice them. That’s their whole purpose and they’re succeeding it in. It’s not normal to have the constant threat of homeless or gun violence looming over us — having our safety depend on our ability to conform.

And I’m sick of it. I’m sick of hearing politicians talk about the importance of public transport, and investing billions in tax payer money to upgrade facilities, just to see PSOs at every single station, ensuring only those deemed deserving by the state are allowed the privilege of movement. It’s the pinnacle of gate keeping. These people with power and authority are not here to keep us safe. They are here to control us.

This increased sense of anger I’m currently feeling, has lead to a steep divestment in over aspects of my life. Things I used to care about have been completely overshadowed. I’ve lost interest in what used to matter, because it doesn’t.

I’ve lost compassion for others concerns, too. Their complaints about minor parts of their days seem so mundane. Everyday life inconveniences pale in comparison to the atrocities occurring across the globe everyday. Don’t be mistaken, I still care, just not to the same extent as I have in the past, which arguably, was already too much.

I’ve been desensitised. It’s not just the news, but my work, too. I see the worst of the worst every single day, knowing there’s little that can be done to stop it, because their struggle is necessary for those in power to uphold their power. More injustice.

It bothers me. It irks me. It weighs on me so heavily I no longer have enough strength left to carry the same compassion to my peers that I used to.

It’s an uncomfortable feeling. I worry I’m dismissing those around me or undermining their experiences. I worry about what others will think when I share my anger. I feel ashamed, but I’d rather sit with that vulnerability than without it, if it means remaining complicit in the persistent abuse and oppression of our fellow humans.

[praeyrp]

Lore Update: Affiliations;

We have both affiliations and factions on FS, the difference between them being that affiliations are species dependent and built into the site and factions are largely player made, optional additions (IE: a pack or coven would be listed under affiliation, where the black market or assassins guild would be a faction). 

Below the cut is all the info on our standing affiliations!

Witch Covens;

Lucidum Coven

Creed: To guard and protect, heal and assist, the coven ideals for Lucidum are simple; follow the path of the light and just. 

Do not assume this implies complacency on their part. Politically quieter, the Lucidum strive for peace, understanding, and personal balance though they’ve learned that such goals cannot always be attained by words alone. Swift to act when necessary, and easy on their familiars, Lucidum is a stable coven for anyone in need. Willing to stand up for its members though unwilling to tolerate any unflattering behavior this coven is stern but always fair. Its peaceful front should not be confused with passivity, and Lucidum proves time and again that still waters run deep.

 Tenebrae Coven

Creed:  Power is might. The Tenebrae coven follows the rule of power, a thing that demands a sacrifice that none of its members are unwilling to give.

 Seemingly driven by an all consuming pursuit of power, Tenebrae is actually ruled by an iron will and tenacious focus. The coven is invested in all sides of magic and shuns nothing, unsavory and mundane alike, while maintaining the ideal that its members will never stagnate. No reward without risk, familiar and witch alike are all pushed to better themselves well beyond the demands of passivity. Tenebrae is an intense, demanding, coven but its members are strong and capable beyond the norm. A Tenebrae member should never be underestimated, they are legion; encouraged to look out for each other and form close knit bonds they’re here to prove that power =/= evil.

Vampire Nest;

 Valdit Nest

Creed:  This nest’s rule is simple; we stick together, we survive together.

 There’s some sense of belonging to be found among the Valdit members, and while it’s not really a replacement for “family” it does try to offer a place to congregate and spend time with own kind. Valdit is fairly verbose about its distaste for both bloodrage and vampire cannibalism, to the point that many vampire consider it an exceedingly old world and conservative nest. You’re of course welcome to have your kinks, just don’t mention them; don’t ask, don’t tell is the rule of thumb for Valdit. It likes its members to discuss turning others beforehand, and scoffs on disobedience. 

Packs;

 Furore Pack

Creed:  Family above all, belongs together; the Furore pack is above all, a family.

 Furore is unafraid to throw its weight around if it feels the rights of its members are being threatened, though they’re slower to rile overall and generally take a neutral stance, Furore’s stance is and will always be its members first and the world outside, second. Their pack-house is closed to the public and warded so its impossible to find without an invitation from a ranked member. As carefully protected as the pack is, it houses a public face in the form of its bar, which helps offer sanctuary to all shifters and also allows the pack some outreach within the city itself. Furore is quiet but politically savvy; while sticking to the background, as the oldest of the packs their voice among the city is a strong one. 

Siviv Pack

Creed: Strength comes from within, never surrender and always protect the pack, and race.

 The Siviv pack has a bad rep, and for good reason. Their previous Alpha was a monster, and their current took in a rogue shifter who ended up condemning the entire race as a whole. They are a very open kind of pack, very in your face, with their expensive pack house, and rich members. They have always been the type to try and grow their numbers in anyway and since Malachi has taken the reigns, he has done everything in his power to try and stop the hatred for the shifter race as a whole. It might not have always worked out in their favor, but, they do whatever they can to protect their own and are not afraid to take what they need to take. Whether this is power, or position. Wary or outsiders and witches, but have grown more accommodating to protect their own. 

 Cautela Pard (feline)

Creed:  Only as strong as our weakest link; the pard is a quiet and shadowy figure.

 Quieter than the packs the Cautela pard is a prideful beast that prefers to stay within its own subspecies. It has been known to allow outsiders but on a whole it’s an exclusive and distrusting club. Its subdued nature goes much deeper than this in that it often stays dormant when political issues are at hand, allowing the much larger and more boisterous packs to speak for all shifters. Never to be underestimated, where they might appear bias and close minded they are incredibly tactical, preferring to play the game from the sidelines with carefully made moves. They do help the community but their arms aren’t as open as the pack’s are. Where the pack seeks to bolster its strength through outside ties the cats seek to strengthen themselves from within. Weak is not something that should ever be associated with the Cautela pard. 

 Caedis Pack (hybrid)

Creed:  We are more than our inner strife; the hybrid’s strive for equality, above all else.

 As a species teetering on the edge of their own inner conflict, hybrids tend to stick only as closely to politics as their current leader is willing and able. The mood within the pack is often tense though well mitigated by its leadership and the well warded house they often frequent for sanctuary and peace. As quiet as they are on the outside, they’re not so much on the inside, often warring with one another the pack is a very physically inclined beast. Its members aren’t all friends but even with that being said they’re expected to respect one another and anyone who falls out of line is swiftly and severely dealt with. There is no margin for error within the prideful hybrids, a group that strives to prove they’re equals to their peaceful cousins, the shifters and vampire, and not loose canons roaming the streets.

Fae Courts;

Dawn Court

Tenets:  Honor, Illusion, Caution & Balance.

Ruled over by the fae king, the dawn court holds dominion over light, illusion and above all, beauty. The people of the dawn court are often the more benevolent type, associated with summer and warmth they’re pushed to use glamour freely and abundantly. This isn’t to say they’re less dangerous. The dawn are tricksters, incredibly cunning and mischievous, they pour great meaning into words and word play and will almost always stab you in the back if you show it to them, with a bright joyous smile on their face. Their king is no better, an androgynous and beautiful creature he’s a man of quick wit and silver tongue. The dawn court has long been known for their oddity in collecting or demanding payment for things in a manner that maims and lessens the beauty of those they’re toying with. If you find yourself caught in the trap of the dawn don’t be alarmed when they ask for a payment of fingers or eyes or hair. After all, the less attractive you are, the more attractive they are~

Dusk Court

Tenets:  Truth, Passion, Honesty & Discord.

A queen rules over the dusk, a people fixated on the bestial or natural side of the fae. The people within this court are often feral by nature and tend to be far more malevolent than that of the warmer court. Associated with winter and its inherent chill the dusk are encouraged to live their lives as proudly and naturally as possible, thus they tend to live and thrive within the fae realm itself where they shed their glamour and live as intended. Bold and brash, the queen is blunt and as overtly forward as her people. She rules with an iron fist and a raw feral nature that is both cold and quick. On her surface she is deceptively calm though rarely holds her tongue. As one of the oldest living dragons know to date, she’s in a constant struggle with her own species’ drive to turn to stone, leaving her irritable beneath the surface, though you’d not know by simple glance.

[ultraericthered]

Is Magnifico's system a good political system? Is it reasonable/fair/etc.? Is he justified in keeping the ungranted wishes? Should he have as much power as he does, even if his people agreed to live under his power?

Does he have malicious intent? Is he "evil"?

These aren't really the same thing. You can answer "no" to both questions.

The answers to those would be one resounding "no" and a "not at first". From the start of when we meet him, Magnifico has done bad things and is very capable of going on to do more bad things, but his intentions for the kingdom he built up and for his subjects who live there under his rule are not without valid rationale, and he's not what I'd call evil. He makes himself evil later in the story via the book.

This would have been an obvious route for the movie to go in order to make him more conventionally villainous, but the thing is, there is absolutely no indication that this is happening.

It WAS the route the movie was going to go at one point given what Magnifico says in the deleted "hulking out" climax scene. I don't understand why the angle got lost in the final film, as Magnifico using the magic of the wish orbs to keep his power charged and his and Amaya's life span going could work even within the framework of him not knowing what happens when he breaks/absorbs wishes.

He's a hoarder, but it feels more like "old lady in a small apartment who has 20 cats because she can't stop adopting strays despite the health and safety concerns this causes" type of hoarding as opposed to "a calculated amassing of power" type of hoarding.

The issue there is that old ladies in small apartment who has 20 cats have no status of power and have made no promises to anyone that maybe one day they'll give one of their cats to them. Magnifico knows that A: every person in Rosas will be waiting for as long as possible for him to eventually grant them the wish they gave to him but now cannot recall, and B: there are some wishes among all those he's been given by the people that he has deemed too high risk to ever be granted magically, thus he will not ever grant those ones. Yet he still keeps those "never to be granted" wishes for his own personal comfort and pleasure, rather than do the responsible thing of giving them back and leveling with the owner that it's a wish he cannot in good conscience grant with his magic but they're free to try to fulfill the wish on their own with whatever means they can find. Unless we're to assume this ages old sorcerer monarch is ignorant, forgetful, and out of touch with his subjects, we have to put A and B together there and the conclusion we'd come to is that Magnifico knows he'll never grant certain wishes of certain people AND that those certain people are still waiting for him to grant their wishes, so he is very deliberately putting into practice a "carrot on a stick" tactic to keep these people both complacent with his rule and adoring, respecting, and depending on him as their ruler for the remainder of their lives. Evil or not, that is a douchey, self-interested approach to take.

You could say that just having the wishes still gives him control in the sense that he's stringing people along with the hope that he's going to grant their wish, which is true.

Yes. Literally what I just said, thank you!

But there's also the fact that everyone in Rosas agreed to live under this system and did so with full knowledge of what it meant. It's a relatively new society; most of the people there settled there sought it out because they'd heard it was a great place to live, and then they're given the grand tour where they're told how everything works, and none of it is a lie. They're aware that they have to give him their wish as a precondition for living there, that they forget about it, and that whether or not it ever gets granted is left exclusively under the king's discretion. It's authoritarianism, but of a style that the citizens have all decided they want.

If Asha really had not realized or put together that Magnifico was intentionally keeping people's wishes that they entrusted him with (and then forgot what they even were) fully committed to never ever granting them to those people, then no one in Rosas is likely to have realized. And this would count as a betrayal of trust by a ruler to his subjects AND a form of theft by deception/fraud. By not levelling with the givers of the wishes with whom he's formed this social contract that many of their wishes he's given might be ruled by him to be too high risk and unsafe to grant by magic yet also never to be returned to them so they thus go on not remembering them for the rest of their lives, Magnifico is befrauding the kingdom. There's just no way around that. That's what puts him squarely in the wrong.

It's kind of weird, actually, how the movie seems to go out of its way to stack the deck in its ostensible villain's favor by emphasizing how informed and enthusiastic the citizens' consent is, and also by completely glossing over what happens if someone who's born in Rosas isn't willing to give up their wish. The movie gives the impression that everyone except Asha (and maybe Simon) is onboard with this system and pretty content with it and then really does nothing to contradict this. Even Saba says he doesn't want to know what his wish is. And then Asha just kind of takes it upon herself to say, "No, this status quo is not good for you. I've decided that what you all need is more agency. Open wide. You're getting agency whether you want it or not." And the movie never really engages with the messiness and contradiction of all this. They introduce a lot of genuinely interesting themes about the nature of freedom, of desire, agency, and the cycle of trauma. And then it all gets dealt with so half-assedly.

This is all valid criticism that I do agree with. The execution was just not up to par with the ideas, for this and other aspects of the film.

Like, if they didn't want it so gray, another obvious route to go (which has been brought up by more than one person) would've been "Asha decides not to give her wish on her eighteenth birthday, and then quickly finds out that it's not as optional as it appears because the king's knights try to abduct her and take her wish by force (or whatever) and then threaten to hurt her family if she tells anyone." That would have been villainous! Like this movie had tons of options they could have gone with to make Magnifico more devious, more of a manipulative and ruthless schemer in the vein of Scar or Ursula, but it fails to take any of these routes. Instead they go with the whole evil book thing so all his worst actions are committed in an altered mental state.

I mean, the evil book, the power it grants him, and his altered mental state/addiction is all the result of his own conscious decision he made when feeling unappreciated, undermined, and desparate for a quick fix, so that's still on him. The movie just muddied his motivation by having the earlier scene where he's talked down from it by Amaya and seems sincerely thankful to her for it, so it didn't seem like a whole lot changed between that point and when he does unseal the book in the midst of a comically self-obsessed villain song.

I've talked at length about that in other posts and this is already long; my point is that the writers of the movie just failed at their task of making a "classic" villain. Some Wish rewrites lean in the direction of making him more of a straight-up baddie, others have leaned into the "sympathetic antagonist with psychological issues" angle, but there seems to be pretty widespread agreement that he doesn't come across as a Jack Horner type so much as a flawed, misguided man, one who accomplished something genuinely impressive in building a kingdom that people wanted to live in because in spite of everything it was a pretty nice place (better than much of the world, I'd say) but the first time he came up against genuine opposition, he was overwhelmed by his personal demons.

Magnifico got heavily and very enjoyably "classic villain"ish in the movie's second half (from his song and onward), but the writers of the movie failed to properly motivate his character on the road to getting there. For comparison, when Gaston shifts from being just a boorish, egocentric jerk and antagonistic figure to Belle in the story to being a true full-fledged evil villain with an evil plot and readiness to harm others for the sake of fulfilling his desire, it checks out and feels natural given the way Gaston's character was set up. When the shift happens with Magnifico, it doesn't really go together with the character's set up in the first half, where he seemed like "a flawed, misguided man" who clung to his God complex and the love, respect and dependency of his people out of insecurity and a need for tight-fisted control to make everything in his life go fine for him rather than a douchey narcissist who could become this cartoonishly nefarious, egomaniacal, and power-hungry character we see in the second half.

This is not to say that there weren't flaws in Rosas from the beginning; any isolated society which is built around a single charismatic figure is bound to turn somewhat cultlike, which comes with risks even when the community is relatively benevolent.

Exactly. Which, again, is why Magnifico was always set up as the bad guy in this story even before he devolved into a truly evil villain.

Wish and King Magnifico?

Ever since the trailer dropped, I’ve been seeing more and more people coming to King Magnifico’s defense about his wish granting, and it’s honestly really weird to me given that he is a literal villain. Like the do-an-evil-laugh-in-the-dark-while-casting-a-forbidden-green-spell kind of villain.

Like I’m fully aware that not every wish needs to come true, and that the world would descend into chaos if everyone got what they wanted, BUT Asha just doesn’t seem the type to be selfish in wishing. I feel like she’ll learn early on that Star’s wish magic has limits

This was more than likely the intention of the design team; having a villain wear white will subconsciously convince your audience that he’s not utterly and entirely evil. That, and also he’s hot. No wonder everyone’s giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I just wish that they alluded to more of the plot in the trailer. They should’ve shown the part that tells us that the wishes are erased from the wisher’s mind if they are not granted immediately and instead sent to the tower; it seems rather cruel to keep a piece of one’s memory away from them. Asha’s grandfather’s 100th birthday is also a subplot of the movie, and she learns that one of his wishes has long since been neglected in the palace walls. The knowledge of these two things act as the catalyst in her confrontation of King Magnifico. She more than likely wants the people of Rosas to just live freely with the memories of their wishes, instead of keeping them in a tower.

[fayoftheforest]

I know for sure that you had good cause in mind making the post about Kyle’s Jewishness but if you aren’t well educated about the matter at hand then don’t bring it out like that lol. It’s not your duty to educate people about judaism nor being a jew is the only thing that makes up Kyle as a character.you guys are making it weird

(I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here anon.  I'm assuming this is the post you're referencing, although I have made several posts about the way the fandom treats Kyle's Jewishness, so apologies if I've misinterpreted your message.)

Wow, I should hope it’s not my duty to educate people about Judaism! I’m certainly not being paid enough if that’s the case, haha. Often when I post about Kyle being Jewish, it’s after I’ve experienced antisemitism within the fandom. I don’t want to start “drama”, so I’ll make my own seperate post where I articulate a general issue, and then explain what we can do to remedy it. I try to stay as kind and good-faith as I can, but I’m not surprised when people still get upset by it. No one likes hearing that they’ve hurt people! That doesn’t give them an excuse to bury their heads in the sand.

I am Jewish, I have been in the fandom for several years, I have watched the show, read fics, metas, essays, and had many in-depths discussions with other fandom members. I've never claimed to be an expert on South Park, but I think that's enough to consider me relatively "well educated about the matter at hand." If I've shared misinformation then please do let me know. But regardless, I'm not going to stress over whether I meet your threshhold of "education" and earnt the right to speak about this.

I’ve never said that being a Jew is the only thing that makes Kyle up as a character. That would be a pretty antisemtic thing to believe, actually! I’m a little confused as to why that was tacked onto your list of accusations. I’ve written plenty of fics where Kyle being Jewish isn’t so much as mentioned, because it’s not relevant to the plot or his character arc in that fic. But for many Jews, particularly those who are practicing, being Jewish is a big part of their identity, and it does play a significant role in their daily life. So, if someone were to choose to explore Kyle’s relationship with Judaism in their metas or fics, I don’t believe that would be innately reductive or “weird.” Maybe you should ask yourself why them doing that makes you so uncomfortable.

I’m going to generously skip over the “you guys” part, because I’m struggling to interpret that in good faith. Who is the “you guys”? Jews? People who aren’t complacent about antisemtism? Oh boy!

I don’t like to get personal about my relationship to antisemetism in this fandom, because strangers are not entitled to a profile of my mental state, but god fucking damn, sometimes I ask myself whether sticking around here is an act of self harm for me. I cannot describe to you how harrowing it is to be constantly subjected to the insidious dehumanisation of Jews that permeates this community. I know most gentiles won’t understand how it feels, and that’s okay. I’m not asking you to understand. I’m just asking you to listen every now and then when I say “Hey, please don’t do this, it hurts.” And maybe, just maybe, don’t send me asks where you try to shame me into silence.

[newsfromstolenland]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxgMdjyw8uw This is a video by Kurtsgeurt- Sorry hard to spell, anyway from in a Nutshell. About how we might not be doomed from climate change. While ecosystems could collapse and we might have to change our way of life humanity might not be doomed forever. And there was some positive trends. The video starts off a bit dark but starts to get into we might not be doomed part. Maybe it’s being in denial, but it lowers my climate anxiety a bit that we might not be completely doomed. But then again even if we aren’t doomed, the sociopathic response to nation states about Syrian refugees doesn’t give me a lot of hope that climate refugees will be welcomed with open arms. And obviously marginalized populations in some places might be more in danger and that’s good. And also there are more natural disasters and pandemics because of climate change in greater frequency. But I like the idea that maybe all of humanity isn’t doomed.

anti-refugee sentiment is definitely a global issue that applies to climate refugees, especially those who are racialized and/or religious minorities. I'm assuming that you mean the increased impact on marginalized groups is not good, which is true, and the negative impacts of the climate crisis are definitely felt most by marginalized people

the concept that we are totally doomed and can't do anything breeds complacency and is extremely dangerous. there is absolutely a path to preventing further extreme impacts of the climate crisis and giving up will only make things worse. I say this time and time again about just about every issue, but a better world is always possible if we work together to fight for it. the truth is that we have to start holding the biggest polluters accountable, specifically corporations, rich people, and governments. oil companies cannot be allowed to continue to pollute, governments cannot be allowed to continue fracking and other environmentally destructive activities, celebrities cannot be allowed to continue flying around in private jets, etc.

but we can't let ourselves believe that there is no hope. all that giving up does is stop us from pushing for change, and we can't afford to be complacent.

[soundlesslament]

Ask and ye shall receive, @miss-lost-and-found. After the story of the meeting of the Exile and Revan post-KOTOR, here's a companion/follow-up piece from Revan's perspective.

Note: The story is written from Revan's point of view.

» Stories Better Not Told

Standing in the Ebon Hawk's main hold, everything from the ship's hum to the smells and lights feels so familiar that it is difficult not to settle into comfortable - and unacceptable - complacency. Lysia looks at me from across the room, expression betraying thoughts that I should rest. Her presence is even more of a disturbance than the ship, as if tempting me to forget the past decades and go back to the simpler times when we were friends.

It is no help that she looks so unchanged. Maybe wiser with experience, more worldly, with streaks of grey in her blond hair, but at core the same in every way. Glowing bright, standing unassuming and approachable but still protective, her faith in the goodness of the universe unshaken. Rather than speak about herself, she has taken to telling me all about her apprentices, blue eyes shining with quiet pride.

The only one that came along on this mission is the young man who pilots the ship and seems way  too close to her. He has been avoiding me ever since they reached me, which I assumed upon meeting him was because I would recognize his training as one of my own design. Yet, though he looked horrified when I noted it, Lysia only awkwardly stated she knew, then thanked me for worrying.

Insufferable of her to point it out, really.

"Were you planning to gather your old allies?" Lysia asks, clearly having given up on getting me to sleep. "Korriban is in ruins. The other forces have scattered…"

I shake my head. "If I return, the ones that remain will rise and follow."

"Will it be enough? I still do not know the full extent of what we face. I will appeal to the Republic. And the queen of Onderon might help us if I go to her."

"Go. We must visit Manaan as well. I should remind them of who helped when both the Republic and the previous Sith administration were breaking their beloved laws," I tell her. "Kashyyyk may also ally with us."

"Kashyyyk? They won't even speak with us!"

"They will speak with me."

The image of the treetop village in Kashyyyk appears in my mind. I wonder how Zalbaar's father will react to seeing me return alone, to hearing that his son is dead. If anything, learning that he attacked me, the one to whom he had sworn a life debt, can only bring more sympathy to my case. He brought shame upon his people by breaking his oath.

Of course, that said oath was broken only in attempt to save another is not something I will be divulging. 

Lysia's expression drops at my sudden silence. "You seem tired," she says.

I stop myself from grimacing. Would she still be so concerned for me if she knew my thoughts? If she knew of Zalbaar and Mission, and how I am planning to leverage their deaths even now?

Then I glance back at her. She frowns in concern, but there is determination in her eyes. I picture myself telling her about what happened to my late crew, how they met their demise at my hands after trusting me with their lives.

"You know I cannot approve of what you have done, but I am sure it was difficult for you as well," Lysia's hypothetical response is clear in my mind. "I'm sorry, Revan."

That it is exactly what she would say.

This time, I cannot help a small smile to myself. Still, I have no intention of burdening anyone with the knowledge of my sins. Whatever I had to do, whatever I will have to do - that weight is mine to carry. Alone.

"Revan?" The real Lysia in front of me calls again. I give her a nod as I push myself off the wall.

"I'm going to sleep."

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Hello! I’ve been writing something for upwards of two years and have hit a wall in plot/characterization/genre/just everything because my focal character, who is also my antagonist and has a few small scenes from their viewpoint, actually has a good point about the world of the protagonist and wanting to take it down. Problem is for Reasons the actions of this character can’t change the whole structure of the world but I don’t want them to die or become complacent in a broken system either. Any tips on this or examples of a story where a bad guy with a point has a satisfying outcome and lives? Sorry I know this is a lot and pretty vague

Okay, so to break it down:

Your antagonist has good points about the society they oppose (ie Killmonger)

You antagonist cannot initiate the changes needed for society (assuming said changes would create vast social upheaval that can’t be addressed in this particular story)

You don’t want the antagonist to die.

Because of the vagueness of your ask, I can’t answer with any specifics (which is a. understandable and b. the way I prefer asks, a wide range of advice can help find a solution rather than having too many details, oddly enough), but here are some things that I hope can help:

The ‘Can’t Change The World’ problem - If there’s no room for the social upheaval changing society causes in your plot, then there’s no room for it. However, you can still leave room for that change in various ways:

The antagonist has a point, and that point leaves an impact. Killmonger may have died in 2018′s Black Panther, but his point about Wakanda’s isolationism left an impact on T’Challa, and the moving ends with a note of bringing change. Your protagonists can still realize the antagonist points, even if they oppose the method.

It’s not just the antagonist. There is likely groups out there that also see the need for change and will advocate for it, and your protagonists can learn from them. You’ll find a wide range of ideas on how to enact change in society historically and now, so this is a very believable thing to have in your book.

Leave room for a sequel - Maybe the need for change bothers you so much that you find you do need to address it. If you feel like that’s an idea worth exploring, don’t feel like you have to wrap up your story with a neat little bow.

The nuclear option - Blow everything up. Just do it. Obviously what happens after will be chaotic and result in serious upheavals, but sometimes that’s where the (current) story ends. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of ending.

Now, onto the other point, in which we want to save the antagonist, I’m going to harp on:

Death isn’t justice. Your antagonist was right, but actions have consequences, and if they’ve caused harm, they should face some sort of justice system. Now, this is complicated if said justice system is corrupt because of the broken system, and will result in the antagonist’s death. But it is worth thinking about.

Let them escape lol. Okay, stay with me here. Maybe you will need a sequel, and keeping the antagonist out there will give you plenty of plot. Maybe the climax of the story isn’t in capturing the antagonist, but realizing they were right. We don’t always need the antagonist brought down to have a satisfying ending.

Hey, remember that sequel idea. Much easier to have a sequel if you don’t kill the antagonist. Maybe even have them succeed! Just saying.

Now, I think what’s happening here is that you’ve put so much work into this, you know the plot and outcomes down to the last detail, and it’s impossible to think of a way out of it. That’s an easy trap to fall in.

But give yourself room to step back. Let yourself go down some ‘What If’ paths and see where they take you. It’s not always easy - I’ve radically rewritten the climax of my novel three times, and each time felt like pulling teeth, but it made the book better, and it was worth doing. You’ll figure out the right approach, you just gotta give yourself the room to do so.

[systematicmasspoisoning]

Who is Sam's prison for?

If you're not up to date in DreamSMP lore, Awesamdude, resident Redstone expert, was paid stacks of diamonds by Dream to make an inescapable prison. It is located in the ocean next to Bad and Skeppy's mansion and is VERY large. Supposedly it will be using Elder Guardians to keep a prisoner from mining out due to Mining Fatigue. Even if the prisoner dies of hunger, they will respawn inside. This brings up the question of how

1. they force the prisoner to click a bed inside the prison

2. how they keep the prisoner from breaking the bed.

Regardless of the mechanics of the second one, I think the first is a clue as to who Dream will trap inside the prison. Consider the 3 canon deaths lore. He has used the threat of permanently killing Tommy to get the boy to comply and click on a bed in Logstedshire. So a 'permanent death if you don't comply' is definitely an effective tactic but ONLY for people with one life left.

The main two options are Tommy and Tubbo (or Philza). Or, Dream is planning on knocking another one of his potential opponents, such as Quackity, Fundy or Techno, down to one life in the time it takes to build the actual prison.

Quackity and Fundy aren't big enough threats yet, although Quackity certainly has the potential to be a threat, in this season of the SMP, El Rapids isn't big enough of a threat yet.

Most people would assume Dream's biggest enemies on the server are Tommy and Techno. Techno's role in the grand scheme of things is, as of now, undetermined. However, as Techno is one of the authors of this SMP season, he likely has something up his sleeve. He is currently 'retired' alongside Phil in their Antarctic Empire skins in a snowy biome, but he has made appearances in Tommy's streams to mock the boy for getting exiled (just like Techno predicted with the Theseus analogy.) An alliance between the sleepbois is possibly in the works, but right now, both Tommy and Techno have made it clear there is still a lot of animosity between them. So I don't see Techno, and by extension, Phil becoming much of a problem for Dream (for now.)

Tommy, on the other hand, has been visited by Dream almost every stream while Tommy is exiled; Tommy has been manipulated by him, gaslighted and threatened. Despite making the very real threat of giving Tommy his final death, Dream has stopped Tommy from any, um, self-harming actions. Dream told him "I need you alive." Narratively, that means that Dream has plans for Tommy (they are, after all, each other's main antagonist). But Dream has also said that Tommy will remain on exile for a long time and he told Bad and Sam as they were building the prison that he doesn't intend on using the prison on Tommy (unless he begins to act up was implied.)

Because Bad and Sam (and Eret) are working with Dream, I would assume imprisoning anyone from the Badlands is out of the question. But I think it's interesting how Sam is the primary leader of the building project.

Dream said that Sam is the only one who will totally know the ins and outs of the prison. So that possibly means Sam is the only one who would know how to escape the inescapable prison. The interesting thing about Sam being included in this storyline is his connections. He and Tubbo are very close, and Sam is also friends with Tommy. Its not long of a stretch to assume that Sam's storyline might eventually lead to HIM breaking out whoever Dream imprisons. Tommy, for now, is out of the equation, so who does that leave?

Tubbo. Someone who many people are now considering Dream's puppet. Dream has been laying on the manipulation lately, playing chess with him, complimenting him and trying to increase the wedge between Tubbo and Tommy. You would think Tubbo is safe, so long as he remains pacifistic and continues to make decisions that are to Dream's benefit. But there are things going beyond the scenes that we, the audience, need to consider. The script.

Symbolism and chekov's guns have been sprinkled into the story line for a long time, and it feels as though the roleplayers have upped the ante. It's hard to think about Ghostbur' compasses without crying, but I literally can't stop thinking about what they mean. When it comes to the duo, despite their estrangement, Tommy still considers Tubbo one of the most important things in his life. He placed the "Your Tubbo" compass right beside his discs in his enderchest. Meanwhile, Tubbo held his "Your Tommy" compass in his offhand nearly all stream today. They still care for each other, obviously, but think about one of the reasons Tubbo exiled Tommy in the first place.

He felt like Tommy was choosing the discs over everything else. He felt as though the discs were the only thing Tommy cared about. There has to be a resolution to this. It's been shown by the story that the discs and Tommy's other obligations (L'manberg, his friendships) cannot coexist together for long without it driving a wedge between them.

Tubbo has been streaming more Among Us lobbies and modded Minecraft lately. When he comes onto the server, he nearly has nothing to do. He loves big project and building houses, but as of now, Tubbo has so little materials to even bother making a home and his largest project, the ocean monument, has been placed on the backburner while Sam builds the prison. Its almost....its almost like Tubbo is preparing his audience and for a period of time where he has no reason to be on the SMP. If he's imprisoned, that's not very good content to watch, is it? I also noticed that Dream pointedly did NOT tell Tubbo about the prison today, instead referred to it merely as a 'project.'

My biggest theory is that the prison is for Tubbo. Tubbo is complacent to Dream now, sure, but Tubbo is very, very smart, and- most importantly to Dream - he still has one of Tommy's discs. And Dream wants it.

When talking sweet to Tubbo no longer works, I think the prison will be the next best option. Its possible Dream will frame Tubbo for some crime (foreshadowed by how Quackity and George tried to frame Eret for Karl's murder), or someone will threaten to overthrow Tubbo and Dream will bring him to a 'secure location' to protect him. Tubbo is very nervous about losing his one life, as exhibited by the safe room under the L'mamberg podium, and other comments about his fear of becoming the next Ghostbur. Dream said that he would protect Tubbo if someone tried to overthrow him. The only threats to Tubbo's current presidency is El Rapids. Ranboo is willing to wait until the next election to become president, but Quackity has shown a strong willingness to do terrible things in order to get power. In Quackity's war against Eret and Dream, Dream made many, many references to Tubbo being a better leader, possibly sowing jealousy in Quackity's mind. Sapnap, George and Karl, as apart of El Rapids also have a bone to pick with L'manberg and may also play a part in further separating Quackity from L'manberg and fueling his desire to be the most powerful nation on the server. Absorbing New L'manberg could be the next step.

Dream could pretend to protect Tubbo by bringing him to a 'safe location', the prison, and getting Tubbo to willingly set his spawn inside. Once it comes to light that it's a prison, with Dream his captor, Tubbo will have to make a decision. Give Dream the disc in his enderchest, or stay imprisoned. Freedom, or the disc, a compromise that has been made time and time again on this server.

I think that Tubbo will hold out and allow himself to be imprisoned, while Tommy returns from exile to make a prison break, with the help of Sam. I doubt that will end well, knowing Dream.

I also think at some point, one of the boys will need to bend. Either Tubbo choses to give up his disc to Dream for freedom, or he decides to take the disc with him to his grave. Its basically the Exile decision all over again. Life/freedom, or the discs/war. Selfishness vs. selflessness.

The two boys are learning throughout this current arc to be more like the other. Throughout his Exile, Tommy will learn to be self sufficient and has had to make big sacrifices consistently as Dream blows up the progress he's made. He's learning to chose his own life over property. Meanwhile, Tubbo (although he's only streamed on the SMP once so far this week) has already shown regret for exiling Tommy, and inherently by choosing to launch a war campaign against Techno, he is learning to chose war and bravery over peace and cowardice. He will gain an appreciation for the disks and/or recognize with greater understanding what they mean to Tommy. Maybe he will learn to care deeply for his compass and learns how willing he is to wage war if the compass gets stolen. It's about the symbolism - its what the object means that is worth protecting.

I think Tubbo will die protecting the discs. Or, Tommy will tell Tubbo to give it up. This is a better ending, in which Tommy will learn that the discs represent is his friendships. And, according to Ranboo, they also represent power, according to Ranboo. But on the server, according to Wilbur (when he asks Tubbo to spy for him) people have always represented power.

To Tommy, in this arc, I hope he will learn that keeping the discs is not worth losing his best friend.

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Ngl when I first heard that Frecklewish was in the Dark Forest, I thought it was a mistake considering how inconsistent the wiki and the family tree is But it's not the Erins had to make a fricken page about and I'm pissed

yeah it's just

really infuriating

especially when they claim to have noticed what the fans were saying and then literally repeating things that fans had been debunking ever since they realized that Frecklewish was in the Dark Forest

and another thing that gets me is them saying they checked the forums and

no offence

as someone who was on those forums like

ages ago

if it's the forums I think it is

that place is a toxic cesspool filled with legitimate Mapleshade apologists / people who believe she should be in StarClan, people who have the most vile and uncomfortable hatred for Squirrelflight to the point it boils down to actual sexism, and where I found some of the worst Thistleclaw defenders

also the place where I recall a forum thread where someone argued that LGBT+ cats weren't realistic and people gatekeep the fandom often

and then they say that but they don't address how there are worse cats who are in StarClan as we speak does nothing but make my blood boil

then they brush it off like "oh, but ig you can believe StarClan made a mistake" and bringing up ASHFUR

there's also the argument that - if assuming that cats who are more equip to swim as compared to you from a land-dwelling Clan gets you sent to hell, why aren't more cats in hell?

I know I rambled about this in my original post, too, but them saying she was complacent in the deaths of the kits and mis-telling what happened in Mapleshade's Vengeance by mentioning all this spite and head in Frecklewish's heart that cannot be read in the original context of the book [in fact, we see more of the opposite]

then why isn't half of arc 1 ShadowClan in hell? No one but a few select cats fought to save the kits from Brokenstar's abuse

why isn't Rainflower, who horribly neglected one of her sons, or Lizardstripe, who refused to feed a kitten and made him feel absolutely unwanted [even allowing her own kits to harass him]

why isn't Oakstar himself, who not only was the one to banish Mapleshade, but also potentially put kittypet kits in harm during his raids on twolegplace all because these much weaker cats were just simply curious about the forest?

what about Russetfur, Rowanclaw, and Cedarheart, who had left Berrykit stuck in a fox trap and did nothing but laugh and jeer? He was still a young kit at that point!

fucking Raggedstar, who killed without needing to and lied through his teeth - the same Raggedstar who gaslit Yellowfang about the murder of Hal, who joined in to mocking her whenever she wanted to help Sagewhisker, who emotionally and mentally ab*sed her and then claimed he loved her, who would lash out at her when he was upset and then proceed to give her the cold shoulder?

why do these cats get to go to StarClan? I understand they want to say StarClan is flawed, but some of these flaws run so much deeper than others to the point where it's actually fucking concerning

how is Frecklewish worse than any of these cats? these horrible cats who, even if one if just an author statement, are all enjoying a rather undeserved paradise?

but what did we expect?

these are the same website runners who decided that Vicky was wrong in saying certain things were no longer canon and implementing the very controversial Su Susann headcanons

the same people who, in their post about Frecklewish, linked back to the post all about who they are [Behind The Scenes At Warrior Cats HQ] as in weird sort of "we're in charge so you have to listen to what we say" manner

I'm going to stay mad at this and the moment the website allows me to log on I'm reacting to that post very negatively